Mount Everest Trekking Photos

The Mount Everest Base Camp Trek takes those willing to do it through some of the most gorgeous terrain in the world.

The Mount Everest
Base Camp Trek takes those willing to do it through some of the most gorgeous
terrain in the world. While trekking, ascending hundreds of meters every day,
fighting for oxygen, and dealing with fatigue and the symptoms of early
altitude sickness, it was difficult to appreciate the true beauty of the trek.

Each small
village had a collection of prayer wheels and prayer flags, evidence of the
numbers of people who practice Buddhism in Nepal.

Mount
Everest, also known in Nepal as Sagarmatha and in China as Chomolungma, is
Earth's highest mountain. Its peak is 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) above sea level.
Mount Everest is located in the Mahalangur range. The international border
between China (Tibet Autonomous Region) and Nepal runs across Everest's precise
summit point. Its massif includes neighbouring peaks Lhotse, 8,516 m (27,940
ft); Nuptse, 7,855 m (25,771 ft) and Changtse, 7,580 m (24,870 ft).

In 1856, the
Great Trigonometrical Survey of India established the first published height of
Everest, then known as Peak XV, at 8,840 m (29,002 ft). The current official
height of 8,848 m (29,029 ft) as recognised by China and Nepal was established
by a 1955 Indian survey and subsequently confirmed by a Chinese survey in 1975.
In 2005, China remeasured the height of the mountain and got a result of
8844.43 m. An argument regarding the height between China and Nepal lasted 5
years from 2005 to 2010. China argued it should be measured by its rock height
which is 8844 m but Nepal said it should be measured by its snow height 8848 m.
In 2010, an agreement was finally reached by both sides that the height of
Everest is 8,848 m and Nepal recognises China's claim that the rock height of
Everest is 8,844 m.

In 1865,
Everest was given its official English name by the Royal Geographical Society
upon a recommendation by Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor General of India.
As there appeared to be several different local names, Waugh chose to name the
mountain after his predecessor in the post, Sir George Everest, despite George Everest's
objections.

Mount Everest
attracts many climbers, some of them highly experienced mountaineers. There are
two main climbing routes: one approaching the summit from the southeast in
Nepal (known as the standard route) and the other from the north in Tibet,
China. While not posing substantial technical climbing challenges on the
standard route, Everest presents dangers such as altitude sickness, weather,
wind as well as significant objective hazards from avalanches and the Khumbu
Icefall. As of 2016, there are well over 200 corpses still on the mountain,
with some of them even serving as landmarks.

The first
recorded efforts to reach Everest's summit were made by British mountaineers.
With Nepal not allowing foreigners into the country at the time, the British
made several attempts on the north ridge route from the Tibetan side. After the
first reconnaissance expedition by the British in 1921 reached 7,000 m (22,970
ft) on the North Col, the 1922 expedition pushed the North ridge route up to
8,320 m (27,300 ft) marking the first time a human had climbed above 8,000 m
(26,247 ft). Tragedy struck on the descent from the North col when seven
porters were killed in an avalanche. The 1924 expedition resulted in one of the
greatest mysteries on Everest to this day: George Mallory and Andrew Irvine
made a final summit attempt on 8 June but never returned, sparking debate as to
whether they were the first to reach the top. They had been spotted high on the
mountain that day but disappeared in the clouds, never to be seen again, until
Mallory's body was found in 1999 at 8,155 m (26,755 ft) on the North face.
Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary made the first official ascent of Everest in
1953 using the southeast ridge route. Tenzing had reached 8,595 m (28,199 ft)
the previous year as a member of the 1952 Swiss expedition. The Chinese
mountaineering team of Wang Fuzhou, Gonpo and Qu Yinhua made the first reported
ascent of the peak from the North Ridge on 25 May 1960.